


winter on my body

by Bleutea



Series: Dragonsouls [3]
Category: Dreamcatcher (Korea Band)
Genre: 2nd POV, Character Study, Dragons, Morally Ambiguous Character, Ships are minor - Freeform, minji just needs a hug
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-19
Updated: 2020-12-19
Packaged: 2021-03-10 21:27:22
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,923
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28173909
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bleutea/pseuds/Bleutea
Summary: You were born Cerberus and you expect to die as Cerberus. But what if you begin to question your role in life?
Relationships: Han Dong | Handong/Kim Minji | JiU, Kim Bora | SuA/Kim Yoohyeon
Series: Dragonsouls [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1854013
Comments: 19
Kudos: 47





	winter on my body

**Author's Note:**

> This is directly related to the events and world built in half my soul so give that a read first before this one!

You could never understand purebloods. They have flimsy bodies, make decisions based on what they ‘feel’, and carry a set of values that is supposed to pertain to everyone. You’ve seen them kill each other in the name of justice. Or you’ve seen some die in the name of justice. They call your kind ‘monster’, but what exactly is their definition of a monster? Is it the physical appearance? A child once told you that a gruesome monster resides under his bed and could eat him if he misbehaved. You told him that you don’t fit under his bed. You tried asking a police officer and he told you that monsters are the kinds of people that do horrible things to others. You’ve seen your own kind die by their hypocritical hands, so did that make purebloods monsters too? Did that make you a monster, too? 

Or, did the  _ ignorance _ of purebloods make you a monster?

It doesn’t matter how many hours you spend trying to understand their existence, you could never come to any one conclusion of their kind.

Despite their weak bodies, they still make the world turn on its axis. And yet, their greed can run even deeper than that of a dragon. 

So it’s laughable that you were somehow born into the family that is all of the above. The Kim family is nothing short of a network. Purebloods and half-bloods alike have died by the whimsical hands of the Kims, leaving no evidence, no trace, and no reason behind. With the way they run the world behind the scenes, one would think that they are the modern day mafioso. Maybe that’s exactly what they are. 

And you are their Cerberus. 

“Become our guard dog.” they said. “All the wealth and status you could possibly want is yours.” 

_ Status? What is status to a dragon? We should just kill them all. Let’s see if their ‘status’ will save them from that. _

You remember grinning as you spoke your dragon’s inner thoughts out loud to the leaders of the family. All of them looked at you the same - with a deep contempt but, at least they even felt anything about you. Many of their enemies curse the fact that they never even spare them a glance, like they are all insignificant insects. You guess it makes them mad to know that the leaders think nothing of their existence. It must hurt their pride. 

But your father forces you to bow your head and you know that you’ve lost this time. After all, you were born for this very purpose. Your father’s powerful dragon genes caught the attention of the underworld and as a result, he was able to marry your mother. She was a nameless Kim from the branch family and thus, she was disposable. At the very least, she gave birth to you before dying, so that had to count for something. 

Besides, working under the Kims granted several benefits and was basically a ticket to an easy life. Why reject it? You are the guard dog of the Kims’ underworldly rule. It is your destiny and you don’t fight it. There is no reason to.

\--

You soon meet the heir to the throne. Kim Bora is smaller than she appears in the pictures. Noisier too. But there is a clear difference between you and her. She radiates like the sun and you don’t mean that in a cheesy way (she’s your cousin for god’s sake) but, she smiles like she has never been touched by the greed of the Kim family. Her father, the leader of the leaders, treats her like they are living in a fairy tale castle. 

You walk up to her to greet her with a toothy grin. You know that your teeth are sharper than normal but you want to see her reaction to you. Several adults already looked at you like you were the next bubonic plague so you expect her to do the same. She gives you a weary look but she doesn’t turn you away. 

“You look like a giant cockroach.” She says as she shivers at the thought of the repulsive bug. You find yourself laughing incredulously at the comparison. No one has ever called a fearsome dragon a cockroach before, much less the future guard dog of the family. If your appearance was already that of a midsized dragon, you were sure to grow into looking like a true dragon. 

“Yeah? Well you look like a...like a plain cupcake! No sprinkles!” To your surprise, Bora starts to laugh at your sputtering. 

“Want to go play in the library? This party is boring.” She whispers when no adults are looking. You glance towards your father who is engaged in a conversation with one of the Kim branch leaders. He’ll be happy to know that you’re getting along with the princess, so you easily agree. 

You quickly realize that you have no idea what a ‘library’ is and that you are completely out of place in here. Bora makes herself at home with one of the big books that seems to weigh more than her but she lifts it with ease. She notices you standing off to the side so she beckons you over to sit next to her. 

“Want to read these together?” The entire book is a wall of text. 

Frowning, you hear the disappointment in your own tone, “I don’t know how to read.”

Bora looks like she was about to berate you for not knowing how to read but she stops herself once she catches sight of your hands. You’ve taken to weapons training recently so you know that she is looking at your callouses. The hardened skin of a dragon hasn’t formed around your palms yet. 

Your cousin drops her shoulders and tugs you closer. That day, you learn how to read simple words and you begin to understand the world of purebloods a little more. Something foreign starts to kindle within you.

\--

It’s not surprising though, to see the fondness Bora had for you on your first meeting to transform into a sort of exasperation. Even with your lack of understanding of pureblood emotions, you can tell that Bora is unhappy with you. 

“That’s wrong.” She says. 

“Why?” You tilt your head in confusion.

“He was just bringing up a good point!” Bora throws her hands up into the air, scattering a few sheets of paper in the process. She has recently begun taking over some of her father’s work for Purple so you were sent to ‘check’ up on her. 

“But the branch leader told me to do it, said that man wasn’t good for Purple’s future...” 

(Not that you care much about Purple. You only care about yourself.)

Bora’s eyebrows twitch before she explodes, “That doesn’t mean you listen to them and  _ kill my business partner _ !” She slams her hand on her desk, glaring at you with intense emotions ranging from anger to pain. 

But you still don’t understand. Wasn’t this what you were born and trained for? Didn’t Bora already know that about you? So why is she questioning that? Did that make  _ her _ the monster for not understanding you? 

_ Hypocrite, hypocrite. Should we silence her too? _

“But that’s what I have always been doing.” You try again, ignoring the other part of you. Her rage shifts to one of shock and it is then that you understand: She has never been exposed to this side of the family. Bora probably has an inkling to the true nature of the Kims but this must be the first time that she is confirming it with her own eyes. 

Her hand flies up to her forehead, rubbing between her brows. You wonder what it’s like to feel so much in such an unrestrained manner. Bora seems to get instant headaches from that so maybe you aren’t curious after all. 

“That doesn’t make it right.” She says, quietly this time. 

“By whose standards? Purebloods? Does that make what your father has been doing to other half bloods right?” You see her flinch at that. Her eyes search yours and you wonder what sort of expression you are making right now. Whatever it was, she sighs again. 

“Then what can I offer you to make you stop?”

You think about her question for a moment before coming up with an answer. “Nothing.”

Looking back on this conversation, you realize that Bora was trying to appeal to your dragon’s side. She was referring to your greed. But, that is a vain effort anyways. 

( Your father used to always tell you that half bloods are the superior race. That you and him were superior. “Our lineage is above the rest. We have no weaknesses.”

Both you and your father have no greed. He always said that the greed of a dragon was their one downfall. They become blinded when presented with their greed and they could be controlled by it. Your father spoke of half bloods whose emotions and rationality spiralled out of control and had to be put down for it. 

It’s a tad ironic that you don’t even understand your own kind. Greed is the most primal ‘instinct’ of a dragon, so to speak, and yet, you don’t even have that. As you said before, you wonder what it is like to feel so much at once. Does that make you less of a dragon if you don’t have any greed? Are you emptier? You would have to ask a half blood that isn’t a Kim enemy one of these days. )

\--

You get your chance to ask when you meet Yoohyeon years later. Bora is of course weary about the two of you meeting but what the leaders want, the leaders get. 

In the few years that you haven’t seen Bora, the both of you matured into adulthood. Bora is now the CEO of Purple and you are a full-fledged dragon. But where she had changed into a dependable woman with a future riding on her shoulders, you have not. 

You’re still stuck in the past. You still go out on assassins as ordered by the family and you still give Bora headaches to clean up after. You still read that collection of fairy tales from the library because it’s the only book you know how to read fully. And you still haven’t gotten any closer to understanding the nature of purebloods.

Now you’re given a small respite to observe the new couple and report back to the family leaders. So you take your chance. 

“What is it like to be greedy?” You ask Yoohyeon as she organizes a set of pictures for Bora’s birthday present. Her hands pause in their movements and she gives you a blank look that says “what the fuck’. She probably thinks that you are making fun of her for her greed but you aren’t. Yoohyeon is an interesting half blood in that she differentiate herself from her dragon so you’re curious about her.

“What’s it like to be so annoying all the time?” She fires back. You don’t answer her and instead focus on the fire dancing on the tips of your finger. Out of the corner of your eye, you see Yoohyeon staring at the fire with...envy? 

It’s nothing to be envious of but you don’t tell her. Instead, you ask about her and Bora and as expected, Yoohyeon got angry and left you behind. 

\--

Following Yoohyeon was a good decision on your part because you witness something that you could not have otherwise. Watching them from the rooftop makes you shiver uncontrollably.

You’ve never told anyone before, not even your father but, you do have a weakness. You’re cold. Cold as ice. And you don’t mean the temperature of your body or your temperament. On the contrary, frost melts right off your skin and people say you smile like the sun (though that could come off as scary when you have blood on your face).

Winter. It rages on inside of you no matter what season it is. The actual season doesn’t do what you experience inside your body justice because where it brings hot cocoa and warm scarves for others, all that is left for you is bitter desolation. Your dragon doesn’t seem to feel it so you are alone in your solitude. It doesn’t matter how much you expose yourself to the sun, nothing seems to ease the winter in your body. You hoped that it would go away as time went on but, nothing has changed even with twenty-eight years into life. 

It’s unbearable. Sometimes, when you sleep, you would be stuck in an endless snowy storm. Nothing but white, blue, and grey were visible around you. You try to escape with those wings that are coveted but you could never outrun the storm. It swallows you up to the point where you just give up and let it engulf you.

It’s the reason why you keep busy with any task the leaders give you. You secretly hope that a target you meet along the way is good enough to best you in a fight so that they can cut you open and see what is wrong with you. 

It’s why you keep playing with your fire. It’s the only way you know how to keep warm. You find it ironic that dragons are said to be the children of the sun and yet you feel closer to the moon. 

So you shiver on the rooftop, enough to force you to fall back and lay down like a starfish. You don’t understand why your body is reacting this way but you know it has something to do with witnessing Bora’s and Yoohyeon’s special connection. 

Maybe you should ask Bora if you can hug Yoohyeon to feel it too but then you think both of them might punch you. You aren’t in the mood to be punched right now though, maybe on Monday but not today.

When they leave, you spread your wings to their fullness, and take to the sky. 

( “I think it’s time you leave the matter be and focus on something else.” You grin in front of your aunts and uncles. 

“That was not the task we set you out-”

“This concludes my report.” You try your best to hold back your giggles but you fail anyways. The adrenaline from earlier is still coursing through you, making more of your teeth sharpen and your eyes must be glinting a dangerous red. 

Your family members stay quiet at the subtle threat. But one brave uncle speaks up despite the tension in the air. “You are the Cerberus and you are to do as you are told.” He speaks with a sternness in his tone that reminds you of your late father. 

With the thought of before, you ignore his threat. After all, if you are the Cerberus then ”even Cerberus can bite back at the hand that feeds them.”)

After that, you feel something more stirring in your chest. It reminds you of the distant past when Bora taught you to read. The feeling spread out from the center of your chest and you place your hand there to feel it. It’s even warmer than any fire you could generate on your fingertips. It disappears as time goes on but you memorize it as best as you could. 

\--

You continue killing and killing and killing. But it’s no longer the same. It doesn’t matter how many bodies you shred through, the storm remains the same. Even your dragon cannot be satiated. So you do what you do best, be annoying (according to your cousin). Well, you can be annoying once you finish off this target. 

“Please, I have a family...” a man in an expensive white suit begs as he crawls backwards on the deck of the yacht. You vaguely recognize him as the man that dealt with Yoohyeon the day before but unluckily for him, the Kim family listed him as a target. He has been guzzling funds from a subsidiary that one of the leaders is fond of so his harbinger of death is here. 

You tilt your head, “Family? Is that supposed to matter to me?” The moonlight is rather bright tonight, making your scales glitter in a way that is unbefitting of this night. The man whimpers as he scrambles for some sort of salvation. He’ll find none here and you happen to be in a less than agreeable mood tonight. 

His back hits the bow of the yacht. You reach over to end everything for him but to your surprise, he pulls out a knife and flips both of your weights over into the waters. The surprise attack wears off and you breathe fire underwater. Steam builds up quickly as you pull the man closer to the cloud of bubbles. The effect is instantaneous as the heat you’re generating touches the skin on his face. (Your father taught you how to kill underwater by drowning you as a child until you could cook fish in the ocean. Not your proudest skill.) He's probably screaming and burning to death but the water muffles all sounds, even to your sensitive ears. He claws at your arms but you don’t let go. And you don’t know what kills him first: the burning or the drowning but, it doesn’t matter to you. 

\--

You pull your body out of the water, stumbling on the shore from the cold brewing inside of you again. It’s been happening more frequently that you’ve been huddling up inside blankets at your place. Your father would probably disown you if he saw how pathetic you are. 

You stumble and stumble until you find purchase on a bench nearby. Leaning your head back, your breaths are joined by a burst of fire at every exhale. Cold. So cold. 

_ Let’s find another to kill- _

That line of thought is cut off by a very human voice. “Minji?” You turn your head to see your cousin and her wife there. 

“Hi, Bboya, Yoohyeon.” Your voice cracks, “What brings you lovebirds here?”

Bora brings her hands up to wipe at your hair sticking to your face. Her eyes are sad, you note. “You just killed Taek, didn’t you?”

Oh, was that who that was? Well, Bora and Yoohyeon should be celebrating then. You force your lips to lift in a smile but Bora stops you with a hand to your lips. Yoohyeon moves behind you and puts her hand over your eyes, tilting your head back in the process. 

“What-”

“What’s happening to you Minji?” Yoohyeon doesn’t sound disappointed but there is something in her tone. Pity, maybe. You swallow a few times, unable to get any thoughts out. They must’ve seen you struggle to keep yourself from falling apart. How much should you tell them? Everything? Nothing? It’s all so confusing.

So you settle for the truth. “I’m cold.”

(They don’t ask any further than that but you suspect they know anyway, judging by the way they bring you back to their home and tuck you in like you’re a lost child. 

  
  


You’re still a murderer, that’s a fact. But they try to understand and maybe forgive you as best as they can handle, so you’re thankful to them despite how much red has slipped through your hands. It’s enough for you.

That feeling from the rooftop finally came back at long last. To make it last longer, you ask them both to read you a new fairy tale. And to buy you some cupcakes with sprinkles the next day.)

\--

You don’t have to look far to chase that feeling again because you find it again in a pureblood. Han Dong is beautiful and intelligent and successful. But she doesn’t spare you even a single glance. You aren’t ugly, you know that. So why? 

“I know all about you, Cerberus, guard dog of the underworld...and the reason why so many of my friends are either empty shells or seven feet under.” Ah, so she doesn’t approve of you killing people either You’re beginning to think that it is indeed a bad thing to do. She calls you a monster and all sorts of things that would hurt had it been someone else. 

Still, you find yourself intrigued by the pureblood that isn’t afraid to look you in the eyes. The only thing you can compare it to is the rush of chasing after a target that thinks they're smart enough to outrun you. But at the same time, it feels wrong to refer to Han Dong as some sort of trophy to be coveted. 

\--

You tell Bora and Yoohyeon about your second encounter with Han Dong and as expected, they tease you until you pout like a child on their couch. 

“Bora, when you told me that we are going to have a baby, I didn’t think you meant two.” Yoohyeon jokes as she eyes you with faux distaste. 

You place your head on Bora’s lap (retracting your horns of course. You don’t want to poke her stomach with them) and whine as if you were really a baby.

She frowns in as much disgust she could muster as your cousin, “Ew, I don’t have such a daughter like you.” You pretend to be offended but she knows you aren’t really. Her hand comes up to stroke your hair. If you concentrated enough, you could hear the sound of two heartbeats coming from your cousin.

“Sounds like you have a crush and you’re just confused since you’ve never liked anyone before.” She explains gently, just like when she taught you the alphabet. Bora is going to make a great mother, you just know it. She tries to explain things to you because she knows that you were not raised the same way as most people, and she does her best to walk you through it. You appreciate her more than you’ll ever tell her but you hope she knows anyways. 

\--

Warm. That’s the first thing you think of when you see Yoohyeon sniffling into Bora’s shoulder as she holds her newborn child. You have heard of parents crying when their children are born but you never understood why. But now you do. 

“Thank you, Bora, for giving me another treasure in this world.” Yoohyeon kisses her wife with all the affection and love in the world. You briefly wonder if your father was like that to your mother when you were born. Probably not, given that he never mentioned her when he was alive nor did he keep any pictures.

But there is just something so  _ so _ beautiful about seeing something nurtured for nine months come to life in your arms. Like raising a flower from a seed and watching it bloom. And you suddenly feel like an outsider looking into this intimate moment, like you don’t belong here-

“Do you want to hold him?” Bora asks you as your thoughts begin to spiral. The question snaps you out of it and you stare at her, unsure. But Yoohyeon smiles at you too, a form of showing you that she trusts you. 

You approach slowly, scared that the tiny human is going to start screaming. He doesn’t, even as you take him into your arms. He’s so small and soft amongst your draconic scales that you’re scared he might get a cut from them. So for the first time in your life, you retract everything rough about you until you’re just like a pureblood, until you are sure that you won’t hurt him.

He’s so warm that you feel the same way you feel when you sit in front of Bora’s fireplace while she reads you a new book. He opens his eyes slightly, staring curiously at you and in that moment, you promise to protect him with everything that you are. 

The snow clears up a bit in your mind, allowing you a small glimpse of the sun for the first time ever.

\--

Han Dong is a friend of Bora and Yoohyeon so seeing her isn’t uncommon at all. She still gives you the cold shoulder but you try your best to get along with her. It’s not like she goes out of her way to be mean to you, in fact, she is rather cordial with you. It’s just not pleasant to be treated like you are an annoying business partner. Bora says you have a crush, Yoohyeon says that you are just lonely but you think that they should really just stop confusing you. 

You’re curious about purebloods and that’s why you want to get to know her. That’s all.

So you ask Han Dong directly why she doesn’t like you. 

“You may be part dragon but in the end, you’re human too. And you don’t seem to understand what it means to be a human.”

It sparks that warmth in you again, spreading farther than it has before. No one has ever referred to you as a human before. You were always Kim Minji, Cerberus of the Kim family, harbinger of death, and Purebred Dragon, above all else. 

But you don’t really feel like the harbinger of death lately. Especially not when you are watching Raon eat his ice cream like a slob. Bora and Yoohyeon asked you to babysit your nephew (yes, Bora thinks of you as her sister) along with Han Dong as a precaution while they dealt with company matters. You think that they are also trying to help you but you can’t be too sure that a woman as cold as Han Dong staring icicles into your side is considered to be helpful. 

Still, you try not to let it bother you and go to wipe the mess off of Raon’s mouth. He’s only three so you can’t expect him to eat like he was at a fine dining restaurant. Plus, he is so cute with his tiny canines (that can really bite hard, he probably gets that from Bora) that you aren’t even disgusted in the slightest. Dong comes to crouch next to you to assist with the cleanup, smiling softly all the while at Raon. She’s gentle in her actions in adjusting the beanie on Raon’s head, like a mother. You quickly turn away when she catches you staring and you hope that your face isn’t too embarrassing. 

It gets a little awkward after that but Raon unknowingly saves the atmosphere by asking both of us to hold his hands while we walk back to Bora’s house. We almost look like a family like this but you know better than to think more beyond that. Han Dong hates you, remember brain?

But then your spine prickles in that way when you’re about to complete a kill. Your full transformation is instantaneous because  _ how dare someone try to hurt your precious nephew?! _

It’s the first time you’re truly angry when you catch a bullet in your claws and zero in on the sniper on the roof meters away. “Take care of Raon.” You barely say to Han Dong before you descend upon the sniper with death in mind. With a single breath of fire, the rifle in his hands melt into a pile of black tar and you grab onto his collar. You lift him until his legs are dangling over the edge of the roof and his throat starts to make gurgling sounds. All you could think of was killing him. 

“Kim Minji!” Han Dong screams from below before your hand could pull out the man’s heart. You recognize his eyes through the hole in the mask. He’s one of your uncle’s men and that makes your blood boil even more. His intent is to kill, even with you present. That much is obvious from the specialized bullet that carries no scent. Unfortunately for him, your senses are better than an average dragon.

“Don’t do it! You’re better than him!” She yells as she holds Raon to her chest. You briefly consider ignoring her and getting that sweet, sweet revenge.

_ Do it. You know you want to have a taste of blood again. Let our blood sing again. Let us be Cerberus. _

The dragon taunts, making the pull a little harder to resist. But then you remember your nephew down below. If you killed now - which you haven’t done for three years now - that would ruin everything that you’ve learned and understood up to this point. That would ruin the warmth that Bora, Yoohyeon, Raon, and even Han Dong taught you. 

So you don’t kill. You knock the man out, call the police, and inform Raon’s parents. They can handle it. 

You fly back down and walk Han Dong a long distance before stopping. Your shoulders sag, releasing the pent up tension in your body as you turn to face them both. Raon is looking at you with curious eyes. He’s never seen you in your true form and you hoped that you would never have to show him. It’s beyond ugly. 

“Am I scary, Raon? Am I a monster?” He babbles some words that you can’t quite catch but he holds out both arms to you. Han Dong passes him over into your arms, where he holds your face with his small hands and stares unflinchingly into your eyes. 

“No. Mindi very warm.” It’s a mere four words and yet, that’s all it took. A lump blocks your throat from saying anything in reply and you probably look like a fish out of the water. You could feel something tugging at the center of your chest and even though you don’t understand it, water wells up behind your eyes. You hold it in because that was how you were taught to deal with them. 

Instead, you bring Raon into a tight hug, hiding your face in his small shoulder and wrapping your wings around you both, shielding you both from the world. It’s the first time you’ve ever been brought close to tears. Not even holding Raon when he was born made you feel this way. 

“It’s _ aunt  _ Mindi, kid.”

Something in you nearly unravels but before it could, you compose yourself and hand your nephew back to Han Dong. Giving her an apologetic smile, you apologize for your behavior. 

“I’ll escort you back.” You both walk back in silence. Not once did she question you back there nor did you let up on your form until you were sure everything is safe. 

\--

You’re scared. You understand that now that you have calmed down. When you return to the house, you stay on the balcony to cool off. You’re sorry to Han Dong for making her handle Raon by herself but you don’t want to risk hurting anybody. 

But you couldn’t help but think. What if you hadn’t been there? Raon and Han Dong could have gotten hurt or  _ worse _ . You don’t want to think about that. You also don’t want to think about the way that you almost slipped back into bad habits. In the moment, it felt so easy and so right to just let go and sink your claws into flesh. You know it is your dragon’s thoughts that you’ve been suppressing for years but you don’t want to let it out. 

You don’t want to let go of anything. You’ve been chasing something that you can only find in this new family that has accepted you and you don’t want to let go. You don’t want to go back to that time when you easily accepted your role as Cerberus. The winter in your body has receded enough that you barely feel its chills anymore. But today...today, you almost lost it all. It’s scary to think of the way one bad decision could have taken it all away.

You don’t realize that you’ve been wallowing alone for so long that it is already dark out. The stars reflect off your obsidian scales but you don’t feel any better.

The glass door slides open and Bora, Yoohyeon, and Han Dong steps out. As soon as Bora sees your pathetic state, she pulls you into a hug. 

Pulling back, she squeezes your shoulders, “I heard what happened.” She says quietly. “And I’m so proud of you.”

That feeling from earlier surfaces again and the tears become a little harder to push back. You swallow several times but it’s getting worse. 

Yoohyeon grins softly at you. “Raon told us that your eyes were ‘like marbles’ and that you were really sad. Do you want me to get you some cupcakes? The one with sprinkles on top?”

Handong slaps Yoohyeon’s shoulder and addresses you with a softness that is only reserved for Raon, Pie, and her cat. “You did well back there. Thank you for protecting us.”

You look at each of them, trying to memorize the warmth they brought to you. Bora’s hand comes up to your cheek and wipes at the moisture there.

“Don’t cry, Minji.” Oh, did you start crying? You didn't even notice. You also don’t register that you’ve begun to break down in Bora’s arms. Your sobbing is wetting her nice suit jacket but she doesn’t care. She places her hand on the back of your head while the other soothes your back gently. You feel Yoohyeon’s hand on the top of your head as well. 

The tears were so uncontrollable that you realize---

_ “I don’t want to be Cerberus anymore. I just want to be Minji.” _

\--

You break yourself free from the Kim leaders and from being Cerberus forever. Instead, you become just Minji. After that heavy crying session, something changed indefinitely in you that even your dragon has become content. Your life is beginning to gain more warmth and more color.

You still don’t understand why but you don’t really care much. The blue and grey in you finally melted into a warm orange. It isn’t enough, not yet, but it’s a start.

You find more friends in Gahyeon and Siyeon and even Handong has warmed up to you. Just a tad. 

Right now though, you’re on your way to Purple’s speaker event in a hotel the company owns with Raon in tow. Coincidentally, you run into Handong in the elevator. 

You do a double take at the sight of her. She’s dressed in a pretty white one-piece and quite frankly, she looks like an angel. 

She giggles with a soft blush on her face, making you realize that you just said that out loud. “Thank you, you look nice today, too.” Handong smiles like the sun towards you before leaving the elevator when it reaches the top floor. 

“Mindi, why is your wing stuck on the door?” Raon asks you while you try to pry yourself free before you embarrass yourself further. Your ears go hot when you can’t get free from the cursed elevator doors. Handong returns with a hand poorly concealing her laughter and a promise of calling the maintenance guy for help. Unfortunately for you, Raon returns with his parents in tow, where they proceed to take pictures for blackmail instead of helping you.

Later, she meets you at the front entrance of the hotel and you shyly hand her your number and an open invitation to lunch. Thankfully, she doesn’t comment on how embarrassing you’re being and you’re thankful for that. 

As you watch her leave in her car, the afternoon sun shines on your back.

_ Ah, the warmth from the sun sure is nice. _

\\\

  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> Hi hi it's me again with this totally self-indulgent work. This time, I wanted to explore the more serious side of this universe as hinted in 'half my soul' and to do a 2nd POV style story! Hope you enjoy!
> 
> PS if anyone is wondering, Raon comes from boRA and yoohyeON lol it aint that deep :D
> 
> Find me on twt: @Bleubub


End file.
